


moving on, and what that entails

by mistyheartrbs



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Awkward Dates, Big Sister Alex Danvers, F/F, Happy Ending, Not Canon Compliant, Reconciliation, canon can eat my shorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 08:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12453174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyheartrbs/pseuds/mistyheartrbs
Summary: Alex goes on some failed dates. It's a good thing she has people there to support her.





	moving on, and what that entails

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so there's a story behind this fic. remember those few weeks last year when we thought sanvers would be a slow burn? i started writing this during those weeks. then 2x08 happened, and i set this aside for the sake of something fluffier. then s3 started, and i stubbornly refused to watch it, but a little part of my soul still belongs to sanvers, so i returned to this, did some edits, added on a lot, and cried a little. so here it is, a sanvers fic just a little under a year in the making

The date seemed doomed to fail as soon as Alex stepped through the door to the restaurant, a bouquet of flowers brandished like a weapon in her clammy hands. 

**Maggie: hey  
Maggie: danvers  
Maggie: she's here, you know   
Maggie: waving to you   
Maggie: right now**

She didn't humor the woman on the other end of the line with an answer, surging forward as if she was about to enter a battle. 

"Ah, there you are!" Alex nearly jumped. "Maggie's friend, right?" 

"That's me," she said, still clutching the flowers, her last line of defense. "Maggie's . . . friend. I brought these." 

"I can tell." Alex still hadn't managed to catch the woman's name, but she seemed comfortable enough with that, toying with the menu and avoiding her gaze as she tried to take the flowers. "Erm, are you alright?" 

"What?" Alex looked down and realized that she had still kept her iron grip on the flowers, her date gently trying to tug them from her grasp. "Oh. Sorry." 

"Hey, I never really learned your name. What was it, again?" 

"Danvers," Alex blurted out, by habit. "Alex Danvers, I mean." 

"Nice to meet you, Bond," the woman chuckled, extending a hand. Alex sat down, awkwardly laughing along with the joke as she searched the woman's face for any knowledge on just how ironic that was. "I'm Betsy, by the way, if Maggie didn't remember to tell you that." 

"She didn't." 

"Figures." Betsy shifted uncomfortably in her spot, fingers drumming the sides of the table. "Thanks for the flowers." 

"No problem." Alex had started to regret this entire idea, and she gripped at the tablecloth with all the strength she had. "So, erm, what is it that you do?" 

"Come again?" 

"Your job." 

"Oh, that!" Betsy let out a throaty laugh. "I'm an accountant. It's boring, but it pays well. How about you?" 

"I'm a . . . doctor." Alex had made a list of fake jobs, fake names, fake everything for just this purpose, but they all seemed to fall away in the tension of the moment, and so she was left scrambling for the first profession to cross her mind. 

"That's nice." Betsy didn't seem particularly interested, and it was at that moment that Alex realized it was going to be a very long night. 

***

The first date lasted exactly two hours. Alex stepped out of the restaurant feeling nothing short of exhausted, wondering how she had faced up against aliens with every intent to rip her limb from limb and come out of those fights with energy to spare while she was left ready to pass out after one bad date. Betsy had been nice enough, but there had been nothing to talk about, and it had soon become clear that both women had wanted nothing more than to both leave and never speak of the date again. 

"Was she nice?" Kara asked, quite literally hovering outside of Alex's apartment. 

_"Yes,_ she was nice, we just didn't hit it off." 

"Did she like the flowers?" 

"I think so." Alex flicked one of the tassels on a nearby pillow. "You know, you can just come in here." 

"I was about to head home, actually, but if you need-" 

"No, no, I'm fine. Go home, you probably need sleep more than I do." 

"Alright." Alex heard a _whoosh_ from outside her window, and she was alone again, resting on the couch with nothing to show but a mutual agreement to never see each other again. 

**Maggie: so...  
Maggie: how did the date go?  
Maggie: i haven't seen betsy in forever, she was pretty weirded out when i called her just to set her up with you**

Alex sighed, picking up the phone in numb hands. 

**Alex: Could we . . . call, maybe?  
Alex: I've never liked texting.   
Maggie: okay just give me a second**

Not a moment later, the phone started buzzing, and Alex picked it up with an eagerness she had tried to tamper down. 

_"Alex? Can you hear me?"_

"Yeah, I can hear you." 

_"I'm guessing that things didn't go great with Betsy?"_

"How could you tell?" Alex hoped that the phone wouldn't pick up the knife-sharp edge to her voice. 

_"Well, that just sorta confirmed it."_

"Maggie, I . . ." 

_"Yeah?"_

"Are they supposed to feel like that? Dates, I mean." 

_"Feel like what?"_

"Tense. Uncomfortable. Like you're standing on the edge of a canyon, just waiting to get pushed in." Maggie didn't speak for a moment. 

_"You_ really _didn't like Betsy, huh?"_ Alex genuinely laughed for the first time that night. 

"How did you two meet, anyway?" 

_"Oh, you know how these things go. Save a girl during a case, call her for dinner, the next thing you know the two of you are almost dating and then she's gone."_

". . . Right." 

_"Listen, Danv- Alex. Nobody gets it right on the first try. I wasn't expecting you and Betsy to fall hopelessly in love or anything. What was important is that this is-"_

"A step closer to understanding who I am or something like that, right?" 

_"Something you did without feeling like you had to be perfect."_

"Oh." 

_"It's getting late, I should go to bed. I'll see you around, Danvers."_ Alex managed to force out a tight _bye_ before shutting off the phone. She fell asleep on the couch that night. 

***

The second date, she figured, would go better. Armed once again with a rather large bouquet, Alex stepped into the bowling alley and was immediately greeted by three screaming children chasing each other around the building. One of them nearly knocked into her, tripping over his own feet. The other two children dragged their fallen comrade by the arms, squeaking a quick _sorry!_ before disappearing to terrorize someone else. 

"Sorry about those three!" a voice called. Alex turned around to see a woman holding another bouquet, leaning against one of the couches. "If I had known there'd be a birthday party here, I would've picked somewhere else." 

"Don't worry about it." Alex handed her the flowers, settling down next to her, and the woman returned in kind. "Anna, right?" 

"Yep. And that'd make you Alex." 

"Right." The three children ran by again. "I haven't gone bowling since I was in high school." 

"Me neither." Anna set down the bouquet, stretching her arms behind her head. "I could still kick your ass, though." 

"You're on." 

***

Two hours, several accidentally thrown bowling balls, and at least three drinks later, the two parted ways, and Alex found herself holding the bouquet rather tightly as she walked home. 

***

"How'd it go?" 

"The door's open, Kara, you can let yourself in." 

"You sound happier, at least. I'm guessing that it went better than the last one?" 

"She gave me flowers." Alex pointed to the vase that now held the offending bouquet before remembering that Kara couldn't see it. "You should come inside. They're pretty." 

"We-ell, _someone_ sounds like they had a good time." 

"It was okay." The caped figure hovered outside the window still, but Alex didn't press on the matter any more. Kara was happier, too, even if she wouldn't say it, perhaps finally moving on from _him._

There seemed to be a lot of moving on these days. 

"It isn't weird? I mean, I'm happy for you, really! It's just . . ." Kara's silhouette drifted across the thin curtain like a shadow puppet as she mused. "Your ex set you up with her. That's not weird?" 

"It's very weird." Alex settled back into the familiar cushions of the couch and pretended that she couldn't still feel the grooves carved into it by her and Maggie and countless, _countless_ movie nights. "It's something, though, right? I mean, we're still friends." The flowers stood out, stark, against the dim lighting of her apartment. "And Anna's nice, and she kicked my ass at bowling-" 

"But you're _great_ at bowling!" 

"Comparatively." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"You never learned how to bowl, Kara. It wasn't hard to beat you." 

"Hmph." The shadow at the window went silent for a moment, and Alex tugged at a loose knot in the couch. "I'm proud of you." 

"Thanks." 

"So, when are you seeing her again?" 

"What?" 

"Anna. You're seeing her again, right?" 

"I . . . hope so?" She hadn't thought that far ahead - didn't want to, not really. It was a fun night. A distraction. Now, sitting in the too-empty couch with Kara still hovering outside, she realized that perhaps it had to be more than that. "I'll call her." 

"You got her phone number?" 

"I got her- oh, shit." Maybe Kara hadn't heard that. Maybe she'd suddenly gotten a call from the DEO, and Supergirl was needed immediately, and-

"You didn't get her phone number, did you?" The silhouette in the curtains disappeared and was, very quickly, replaced by Kara still floating a few inches above the ground on the balcony. 

_Show-off._ "No." Alex yanked at the couch's knot until it came undone in her fingers. "Oh, well. At least we have that night. I guess that's the end of it, Kara, it's okay if you-"

"Maggie was the one who set you two up, right?" There were bags under Kara's eyes as she crossed the balcony into Alex's living room - no doubt from saving people all night - but they were shining, and she wasn't apologizing. That was something. That was "moving on," as they called it. "She'd have Anna's phone number." 

"What would I _say_ to her, even?" Alex held her head in her hands as Kara rifled through her cabinets, still dressed in full Supergirl garb.

"Your off-brand vegan cereals disgust me." 

"What?" Alex turned around to come face-to-face with Kara disapprovingly shaking a nearly-empty cardboard box. 

"You eat this crap?" 

"It was Maggie's." Kara's expression drooped. 

"Oh."

"It's fine, though! I just never got around to getting rid of it." 

"I'd be more than happy to throw this unholy creation into next Tuesday if it helps." 

"It would, Kara," Alex chuckled, but hardly a second went by before her sister was plopped down on the couch next to her with the distant sound of a cereal box plummeting to the ground at unsafe speeds only an afterthought.

"Okay, now you call her." Kara held out Alex's cell phone, and it was in that moment that she realized that Maggie's name was still encircled with hearts. "You talked about, uh, Betty with her, didn't you? That wasn't awkward." 

"Betsy, and that was because it didn't work out." She'd destroy the couch at this point, but Alex couldn't find it in herself to care as she got to tugging on another loose thread. "How do I tell her that it _did,_ and I'm only calling her to ask for another girl's phone number?" 

"You don't have to, but she wants you to be happy, doesn't she? We both do." Kara fiddled with the ends of her cape. "It was one of the things we always saw eye-to-eye on." 

"I guess you're right." Alex took the phone with near-trembling hands, pressing 'call' a bit too firmly. "If you could . . . erm . . ." 

"Oh! Yeah, of course! See you around." And she was gone. 

_beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

Maggie's voicemail would be coming any time now, her uncharacteristically upbeat voice chirping _"this is the phone of Maggie Sawyer, I'm not home right now, leave a message!"_ into her ear. It wasn't how she really sounded when she was talking, just something fake and automated like a store clerk greeting a customer after a long day. 

_beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

This was a bad idea, Alex thought. It was a very bad idea. Oh, it was a terrible, terrible mistake. 

_beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

Alex was just about to hang up when the beeping stopped, mid-beep, and Maggie's breathing came through the speaker. 

_"Alex?"_

"Yeah." 

_"How'd it go?"_

"That's what I wanted to talk about, actually." Alex took a deep breath in, shook out the hem of her sweater, and breathed out. "It went . . . really well?" 

_"I'm glad to hear it." _The distant sound of muffled cheering and clinking glasses rang in the background, far away. _"You're doing great, you know."_ Alex flinched, for reasons she herself didn't fully know. __

__"So, we went bowling, right? And she kicked my ass-"_ _

___"Yeah, she's kind of a bowling champion."_ _ _

__"Figures. Anyway, we had such a good time that . . . erm . . . I forgot to ask for her phone number." The sound Maggie made could only be described as cackling, and it was far too easy for Alex to imagine her throwing her head back with her hands balled up on some scratched wooden table at a bar somewhere, her hair tossed effortlessly over her shoulder, her eyes closed the way that they always did when she laughed, the way-_ _

___"Hello? Earth to Danvers? Are you still there?"_ _ _

__"What? Yeah! Yeah, I'm still here." Alex pressed her free hand to her forehead. "God, I feel like I'm in high school again."_ _

___"I found her number. Do you have a pen and paper or something?"_ A straight-edged clipboard sat, tantalizing, at the edge of the table, and Alex grabbed it. _ _

__"I do."_ _

___"Mm-kay, it's kinda loud in here, so tell me if you have trouble hearing any of this, alright?"_ _ _

__"It's fine, Maggie," Alex chuckled. Maggie rattled off the digits, and Alex wrote them down as fast as she could hear them._ _

___"Did you get all that?"_ _ _

__"I think so."_ _

___"Anna's nice."_ Maggie paused, and the faraway cheering returned to the phone. It sounded like the adults from the _Charlie Brown_ cartoons Alex used to watch as a little kid. _Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah,_ babbled nonsense. _"I'm glad you two hit it off."__ _

__"Me too."_ _

___"Hey, you'll have to tell me how the second date goes, okay?"_ _ _

__"I promise."_ _

__Alex hadn't forgotten the last time she'd made a promise to Maggie._ _

__***_ _

__It was cliche, all right, but movies were something safe. Easy. Alex held another bouquet in her hands, a bit looser this time - they were roses, and even in all her years of combat with aliens and humans and anything else, she wasn't fond of the idea of getting pricked. Anna stepped through the crowd of moviegoers and waved eagerly._ _

__"Hey! I wasn't sure if you'd make it. The traffic out there was _awful._ "_ _

__"I live pretty close, so I walked."_ _

__"Oh." Anna rocked on her heels. "Wanna go inside?"_ _

__"I'd love to."_ _

__The darkness of the theatre couldn't hide the fact that they were the only two people there. The trailers started to play._ _

__"It's been out for a while, so I guess everyone's seen it already," Alex prattled on, if only to break the silence._ _

__"Have you?"_ _

__"I've been too busy with . . . erm . . . work." She'd tell Anna about the superhero-alien-sister-and-secret-government-organization thing later, she decided, after determining whether or not she was to be trusted. "It got really good reviews. CatCo gave it a three out of five."_ _

__"That's high praise, from them."_ _

__"Yeah." Alex made her way up the little steps to get to a seat. "They've become a bit less harsh, though. Might have something to do with their new management."_ _

__"The Luthor woman?"_ _

__"And the reporters." Alex sat down, wincing when the chair creaked a little. It was an old theatre, with seats that flipped up when nobody was using them. This didn't seem to bother Anna, however, who reclined in it easily. "They're really good reporters."_ _

__"That reminds me," Anna began, running her finger around the empty cupholder. "What do you do?"_ _

__"My job, you mean?"_ _

__"No." Anna breathed in sharply, then breathed out. "I mean, what do you like to do for fun? Most people like movies and bowling. Is there something you _love?"__ _

__"Pool," Alex blurted out, without thinking. "I like playing pool."_ _

__"Well, I think I know where we're going after this."_ _

__***_ _

__The movie was nice enough. It wasn't particularly memorable - Alex had forgotten the main characters' names five minutes after leaving the theatre - but it was nice. It was nice, and that was all she needed as Anna led her to some dingy bar, the patrons lifeless and sleepy. The pool table was starting to gather dust. It was nothing at all like the place she'd spent so much time at with Maggie, but that was _fine.__ _

__It was fine, she told herself as Anna picked up a pool cue and pretended to wield it like a sword._ _

__It was fine, she told herself as they exchanged casual banter over the green-coated table and she slipped further and further away from any thought._ _

__It was fine, she told herself when she won and Anna looked just a bit sad._ _

__It wasn't fine at all, really, but it wasn't like she could tell herself that._ _

__"Is something bothering you?" Anna still leaned on the pool cue, resting her left hand on top of it like it was a cane. It was so quiet - _too_ quiet - in there. "We can leave, if you want. I'm okay with that." _ _

__"No, no, it's fine." Alex took a deep breath, sitting down on an uneven stool. "It's just me."_ _

__"What's up, then?" Anna pulled up a stool next to her, balancing it with the cue. "I know we don't really know each other at all, but-"_ _

__"It's Maggie," Alex said, before she could stop herself, before she could even _think._ "You, ah, you remind me of her. A lot. And that's kind of awkward, and I don't want to be holding you up to this . . . this standard that doesn't even make any sense at all, really. I mean, she wasn't perfect. Neither of us were! That's what a relationship's supposed to be like, if it's not then things get bad fast, it's why Kara and Mon-El were so-" _ _

__"Who?"_ _

__"Nobody." Alex was starting to get a headache. "It's just . . . I don't think I'm ready to move on yet. Sometimes people _need_ to, or it'll drive them crazy, but Maggie wasn't like that. We ended it on good terms. The wedding was a weird, insane rush of emotions that bubbled up into plans that didn't work out, and then everything just kept _happening,_ and, well, that's just that, isn't it?" Despite herself, Alex laughed. It was a sad, metallic sound, throaty. "Bad timing." _ _

__"You seem like a really nice girl, Alex." Anna got up and set aside the pool cue._ _

__"I'm sorry."_ _

__"Don't be." Anna smiled, and she was already on her way out the door when she turned around. Some soft tune played in the background, a singer crooning about his lost loving or longing or maybe nothing at all. Alex couldn't make out the words. "Say hi to her for me, alright?"_ _

__"I will."_ _

__Then she ran, out into the chilly fall air until her breaths came in cloudy puffs in the wide city streets._ _

__***_ _

__Was this a bad idea? Certainly. Was it going to work? Most likely, no. Neither of these thoughts stopped Alex from knocking on Maggie's door, standing up tall and breathing steadily._ _

__"Who's there?" Maggie's voice was damn near intoxicating, so warm and familiar, no longer distorted by the sound of the phone._ _

__"It's me." The door swung open, and Maggie stood in its frame clad in a loose-hanging t-shirt._ _

__"Well, Danvers." Maggie looked down at the hardwood floor. "It would've been nice if you'd shown up a little earlier. I was just about to go to sleep."_ _

__"I can come back some other time, if you-"_ _

__"I'm just messing with you, nerd. Come on in." Maggie walked back inside, and Alex followed her. "How'd the second date with Anna go?" Alex was the one looking at the floor, now. She'd spent time at Maggie's apartment before, but she'd never noticed the little swirls in the wood. They were pretty, in a funny sort of way. "Not great, huh?"_ _

__"She told me to say hi." Maggie looked up._ _

__"What's this about, Alex?"_ _

__"Listen, I . . . I know we broke up for valid reasons. It was all going too fast and we weren't ready and I get that, Maggie, but if you want, I want to try again." Alex could feel her breaths coming in shaky, and Maggie didn't speak for a moment. "I'll get out of this apartment right now if you don't. I won't bother you anymore." It must have been a subconscious thing, the two of them standing so close, hands nearly reaching for each other. The air was tinged electric. "Maggie Sawyer, nobody has ever made me feel the way you have." Maggie kept silent for just a few more seconds, and then she broke into that beautiful smile, that smile that made Alex's heart flutter and collapse._ _

__"You didn't have to win me over with that whole speech, you know," she said, and then their hands were twined together so effortlessly it was almost as if they'd never been apart. "How long did you spend rehearsing that?"_ _

__"I just came up with it!" Alex clutched her chest in mock offense, and Maggie laughed. "What can I say? I'm a poetic soul."_ _

__"You're a sap, that's what you are." Maggie wrapped her arms around the back of Alex's neck, and Alex thought she'd never wanted to kiss someone more than in that moment. "You're my sap."_ _

__"We'll try again, then?" Alex wanted to just hold her forever, and Maggie looked at her with those wonderful, warm eyes, and she knew it was something important happening right then, with the cold winds outside blocked out with this silly little embrace._ _

__"I think I'd love that."_ _

**Author's Note:**

> just let alex and maggie be happy, please.


End file.
